Film Review

By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Wall Street
Directed by Oliver Stone
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 12/87 DVD/VHS Feature Film
R

Oliver Stone and screenplay writer Stanley Weiser have fashioned a thought-provoking and fast-paced morality tale that could have been lifted right out of the financial papers. Charlie Sheen stars as Bud Fox, a young and ambitious stock broker who becomes the protege of multimillionaire corporate raider Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas). To get this wheeler-dealer's business and gain an edge on the competition, Bud agrees to take shortcuts which he knows are illegal. He sets up an insider's circle, conducts some industrial espionage missions, fronts buyouts, and begins seeing himself as a high stakes mover and shaker. Bud is soon the golden boy at the firm. His father (Martin Sheen) , a blue collar worker, sees right through Gekko, but Bud is not dissuaded. He enjoys all the perks his mentor has promised, including a penthouse condo and a relationship with a jet set interior designer (Daryl Hannah). Eventually Gekko's ruthless side surfaces, however, and Bud reveals that he has learned some tricks of his own about survival in the corporate battlefield. The Wall Street scene depicted here is a game in which the players can get very rich — and they can also be corrupted. Hopefully, this film will help Americans to do some deep thinking about ethics, white collar crime, corporate culture, and the moral bankruptcy behind today's money society.

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by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat